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Barronett man charged with sexual assault

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Published by admin on Wed, 04/24/2019 - 3:26pm

Richard Romportal

Richard Romportl, 52, of Barronett has been charged with two counts of Class C Felony 2nd Degree Sexual Assault/Use of Force and Class 1 Felony Exposing Genitals/Intimate Parts to a Child, following an investigation by Washburn County law enforcement that began in December, 2017.
The criminal complaint states that in December, 2017, Washburn County Sheriff’s Office was made aware of a report of a sexual assault. Investigators contacted the alleged victim, age 16 at the time of the alleged assaults. In statements to investigators, the alleged victim stated that Romportl sexually assaulted her at his residence, or in his vehicle, on multiple occasions over a period of three months in 2017.
Romportl was arrested, appeared in court for a bail bond hearing in December, 2017, and was placed on a $500 cash bail bond.
In April 2018, a motion was held at which time Washburn County District attorney Winton moved for the Court to order Romportl to submit a sample of DNA for testing by the Wisconsin state Crime Lab.
In July 2018, the Court granted the Motion to Compel DNA and issued an Order for Romportl to provide a DNA sample to law enforcement.
According to the criminal complaint, which is too graphic to print, results came back from the Wisconsin State Crime Lab, which indicate that Romportl’s DNA was found on the alleged victim.
“According to the lab report findings, regarding the DNA mixture from a large paper towel, it is at least duodecillion times more likely to observe these profiles if they are mixtures of DNA from Victim 1 and Romportl, than if they are a mixture of DNA from two unrelated individuals.”
Romportl denied any sexual interaction with the alleged victim, however investigators obtained a search warrant for his residence and collected items such as paper towels from the trash at his residence and submitted them for testing by the Wisconsin State Crime Lab.
If convicted Romportl faces a maximum sentence of 80 years confinement is State Prison. His initial appearance is scheduled for April 22, 2019.